Business
Free parking plan comes off the rails
Any attempts to provide a period of free parking in the county’s towns in an effort to boost trade have been scuppered after members of Galway County Council failed to reach agreement on the matter.
A two hour debate often bordered on the bizarre as several different councillors wanted different free parking arrangements to be put in place on a trial basis but in the end it was agreed that the status quo remains.
It has come up at several meetings of Galway County Council over the past year with demands that a period of free town centre parking be provided for shoppers in an effort to boost business for the local traders.
But there was a major disagreement on when the period of free parking should apply. Some councillors wanted it between 9am and 10am in the morning while others were in favour of an hour long period of free parking that could be taken at any time during the day – however, this was said to be very difficult to police.
Council officials had warned that any period of free parking would be costly and the revenue would have to come out of the roads budget – this sent ‘the wind up’ several councillors who wanted the roads budget maintained.
A committee was established to come back with a recommendation and Cllr Mogie Maher from Loughrea came back with four possible options – one hour in the morning, two free hours in the morning, a floating one hour period and a floating two hour period.
The latter two hour floating free parking period would cost the Council almost 435,000 in lost revenue and that this would be stripped from the roads budget.
Cllr Maher proposed that a one hour morning free parking period be applied on a trial basis for six months and that the situation be reviewed after that.
It resulted in heated exchanges between councillors with Cllr Maher’s Fine Gael colleague Cllr Michael Finnerty producing a picture of a street in Ballinasloe one morning and it showed that there were no cars around.
Cllr Finnerty said that the paid parking were boosting the edge of town big retailers who provided free car parks while the main ratepayers were struggling. “Our county towns are dying and we are doing nothing to address the situation.
There was then controversy when it was revealed that Clifden’s parking charges do not apply until 11am in the morning. Cllr Eileen Mannion said that this had been the case since parking charges in the town applied and it was passed by members of Galway County Council.
This prompted Cllr Donagh Killilea to propose a two hour period of free parking which, he said, would mean that there would be consistency between all of the towns in the county.
But Fianna Fail’s Cllr Malachy Noone wanted each of the five Municipal Councils in the county to rule on their own parking fees and arrangements. He was told by Chief Executive Kevin Kelly that any free parking arrangements had to be passed at a full Council meeting. This sparked a further row.
In the end Cllr Mogie Maher withdrew his original proposal of one hour free parking and instead proposed that the current situation remain the same. This was agreed on a vote of 21 for and nine against.
The traditional free parking arrangements in the run up to Christmas will remain.
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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